[Book review to] Histories, meanings and representations of the Modern Hotel

Abstract

The last two decades have witnessed a revival of interest in hotel studies, which are now characterised by critical scholarship and the production of theoretically sophisticated research. Kevin J. James has written an extremely appealing book, which addresses the modern hotel in various ways, skilfully building upon an expanding range of publications. It is a good contribution to the book series Tourism and Cultural Change, directed by Mike Robinson and published by Channel View. While James’ work is anchored in the historiography of the urban western hotel, it goes well beyond that. Histories, Meanings and Representations of the Modern Hotel is a well-researched book that ties together various disciplines, and therefore not only is it relevant to historians, but to tourism, hotel and hospitality scholars, geographers, anthropologists, cultural studies and social sciences academics and various postgraduate students within these fields. Saying this, the book brings little new empirical evidence or first-hand analysis of archival materials, and is mostly a careful examination of how different scholars have approached the study of hotels.